In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, May 17, 2022

ARRW Scores Successful Hypersonic Booster Test On Fourth Attempt

The successful, hypersonic speed test at up to Mach 5 by the booster finally clears the way for the Air Force to attempt a series of tests of the high lift-to-drag, hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) at the heart of ARRW program. Credit: Lockheed Martin

U.S. Army Upgrades ‘Bee Swarm’ To ‘Wolf Pack’ During EDGE Trials

How a yearly series of experiments in the Utah desert is preparing the Army to incorporate drone swarms into future operations. Credit: U.S. Army

Contracted Adversary Air Training ‘Inadequate’ For High-End Flight

The U.S. Air Force has decided to not renew an ongoing contract with Draken International for adversary air training at Nellis AFB, Nevada, because it has determined the contractor’s jets can no longer provide the effective training it needs. Since 2015 Draken has flown “enemy aircraft” for high-end training events at the Nevada Test and Training Range, in exercises such as Red Flag and for the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. Credit: U.S. Air Force

Dust Prompts Early End To NASA’s Extended Mars InSight Mission

Science operations aboard NASA’s Mars InSight lander are expected to stop by late summer rather than year-end due to an accumulation of dust on the lander’s two circular solar arrays. The dust dramatically limits the electrical power the arrays can generate for Insight’s seismometer, camera and other instrumentation, the agency’s mission team said May 17. Credit: NASA/Caltech-JPL

NASA Administrator Addresses China, Plans For Cost Reform

The U.S. has entered a space race with China that rivals that of the Cold War era with the Soviet Union, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told House lawmakers May 17. Portions of the 2-hr. question-and-answer session with the House Appropriations commerce, science and related agencies subcommittee echoed some key exchanges from two weeks earlier when Nelson appeared before the Senate version of the House panel to discuss NASA’s $26 billion 2023 budget request, an 8% increase. Credit: NASA

DIU Funds Radioisotope, Nuclear Fusion, Spacecraft Propulsion Demos

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has granted contracts to two companies for development of two types of spacecraft nuclear propulsion: a compact fusion system and a next-generation radioisotope system. Nuclear propulsion is seen by the Defense Department unit as a better way to maneuver at-will in cislunar space and enable high-power payloads for spacecraft. Credit: Ultra Safe Nuclear

Planned EC-37B Compass Call Purchase Concerns USAF

The U.S. Air Force’s abridged plan to buy just six EC-37B Compass Call aircraft is not enough to meet the mission, and service officials say they are closely watching the availability of both Gulfstream G550s and their Rolls-Royce engines to see when more could be bought to fill the gap. The service’s fiscal 2023 budget request calls for reducing the planned buy of the aircraft to six from 10. Credit: U.S. Air Force

ColdFire Details Revealed For Advanced High-Energy Lasers

Rolls-Royce has revealed the first details of a power and thermal management system (PTMS) that provided a unique, continuous firing capability during a demonstration in February of a U.S. Navy-funded, Lockheed Martin high-energy laser (HEL). The reveal of the ColdFire PTMS, which is driven by a 450-hp. M250 turbine engine, shines a light on a critical technology often overshadowed by new advances in the photonic and optic systems of laser weapons. Credit: ONR

Chinese AC313A Heavy-Lift Helicopter Completes First Flight

China conducted the first test flights of the AVIC AC313A civil heavy-lift helicopter on May 17 and plans to certify the type within the country’s 14th five-year plan of 2021-25. The aircraft flew for 22 min. at Lumeng Airport in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province. Credit: AVIC

Mortars, Drones Shot Down By Stryker-Mounted 50-kW Laser

A Raytheon/Kord team has demonstrated that a Stryker combat vehicle-mounted, 50-kW laser weapon system can shoot-down 60-mm mortars and drones, during an operational assessment at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, a Raytheon executive reported on May 16. Credit: Raytheon

B-21 First Flight Now Set For 2023

The U.S. Air Force now expects the first flight of the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber in 2023 as the service prepares for a public rollout later this year. The Air Force announced in early March that ground testing has begun on the first B-21, with the sixth aircraft beginning assembly at Northrop’s Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. No date has been set for the rollout. Credit: U.S. Air Force rendering

ARRW scores successful hypersonic booster test on fourth attempt, and how a yearly series of experiments in the Utah desert is preparing the Army to incorporate drone swarms into future operations. 

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